Chargers running back Michael Turner is expected to be one of the hottest free agents on the market this offseason. John W. McDonough/SI
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4. I think I applaud the Giants promoting 43-year-old Jerry Reese to the general manager's job. He becomes the first African-American general manager in New York football history. Thoughts/observations/pieces of advice:

a. Jerry, be your own man. There will be 17 columns in New York papers between now and the start of free agency in six weeks telling you to sign restricted free-agent San Diego running back Michael Turner to an offer sheet. I'm not saying if the cost and draft choice is prudent you shouldn't do it. But remember the lessons you see around you every year: Running backs grow on trees, you've already got a good one in Brandon Jacobs, and you can find another one, for less money than you'd pay Turner, in the draft.

What happened to Indianapolis without Edgerrin James? Nothing. Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes rushed for 1,722 yards this year and blocked sufficiently in blitz pickup. The Jets without Curtis Martin and LaMont Jordan? Running-back-by-committee got them into the playoffs this year, and Leon Washington looks like he's going to be a gem. Washington without Clinton Portis? Ladell Betts rushed for 666 yards in five December games. When Fred Taylor got his customary bumps and bruises this year, the 60th pick in last April's draft, Maurice Jones-Drew, actually played better than Taylor.

b. Might be impossible, but Reese should try to find a way to get Jason Garrett out of his contract in Miami, and get him up to coach Eli Manning. Smart, common-sense, well-schooled, worker-bee. That's Garrett. He'd be a terrific hire, and he and his wife love New York.

c. GMs can't be afraid to make changes if they see dead wood.

d. Loved what Reese said about the scouts, who are the underrated players in every organization. "These guys get in the trenches and do all of the hard work for us, so I really appreciate ... I don't ever want to leave them out of anything, because they're our lifeline, our scouts.

e. On the day Reese's appointment was announced, his wife, Gwen, told the New York Times his real career ambition was to be the NFL commissioner. I bet two things: Reese never said that in his interview with Giants management, and that didn't sit well with John Mara's morning latte.

5. I think when Steve Sarkisian turns down your coaching job, and he's an assistant college coach, you're in big, big trouble. The Raiders have been embarrassed like never before. And believe me, they definitely wanted Sarkisian and were going to name him the coach. But he backed out last Friday, leaving the Raiders with the blackest eye they've ever had.

6. I think this is what I liked about Championship Weekend:

a. Snow in Chicago for a playoff game. Just wish it had come down harder.

b. The confidence that Lovie Smith and Chicago offensive coordinator Ron Turner have in each other , something that I touch on, among other things, in my Bears story in this week's issue of SI.

c. The throngs of fans on the Chicago streets on Friday and Saturday night. "Who dat!'' was a refrain heard in bars all over Rush Street, and on the streets, 'til very late. Not saying I was out late, of course.

d. Drew Brees' grittiness.

e. Adam Vinatieri.

f. His worthy heir, Stephen Gostkowski.

g. Great coverage on the huge third-and-10, late fourth-quarter Colts' pass by scrapheap-pickup Ray Mickens, the Pats' dime back.

h. Peyton Manning winning maybe not the big one, but certainly the biggest one of a nine-year career.

i. Marlon Jackson and Bob Sanders. Really, really good plays in the fourth quarter to help save this game.

7. I think this is what I didn't like about Championship Weekend:

a. The Drew Brees safety. For as good a game as the guy played in bad conditions, throwing to no one from your own end zone, then giving the Bears great field position on the ensuing drive. The safety was a really a brainlock play.

b. Four turnovers by the Saints. Goes without saying: The Saints picked the worst Sunday of the year to not take care of the ball.

c. Reggie Bush's bush-league taunting of Brian Urlacher.

d. Thirty-two second-half points allowed by the Patriots. Credit Indy, of course, but if you're the second-rated scoring defense in football, that is some ridiculous defense.

e. Reche Caldwell was a nice feel-good story in the last month for New England, but he had an awful second half, with two big, big drops.

f. Tony Dorsett handing Virginia McCaskey the NFC Championship trophy. Weird. Roger Goodell was in the house. He's the one who should have handed the trophy to the winning organization after the game.

g. And Jim Plunkett handed Jim Irsay the AFC hardware? You're trying too hard to do something different, NFL, and it didn't work. It made no sense.

h. The communication between Tom Brady and Troy Brown on the third-and-four play with just over two minutes left, resulting in a near-Bob Sanders pick.

8. I think the one thing I didn't write this weekend for Sports Illustrated that I wish somehow would have fit into my magazine story was this salient Sean Payton tidbit: As a Eastern Illinois junior in January 1986, Payton, a huge Bears fan, had a little too much to drink during Chicago's Super Bowl rout of New England. After the game, he and two buddies shaved their heads, apparently in a show of glee.

9. I think I feel bad for Solomon Wilcots, having to interview Bill Belichick after the game. Talk about your basic no-win situation. Mike Wallace would have looked ridiculously inadequate in that assignment.

10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. I bet 10 people asked me in the last week: "You see 24?'' No. One show's my limit. House. I don't know how, with the bizarre fall-early winter schedule I have to keep, I could get hooked into another show, particularly a show that you have to see every week or else you're a lost sheep. It must be a great show, though. Everybody's talking about it.

b. There were 17 pages, combined, in last Wednesday's New York Post and New York Daily News reporting on the fashion and parties surrounding the Golden Globes.

c. Uh-oh. Jim Mora, semi-jokingly, I believe, is not pleased I reported in this column that I skunked him in ping pong 21-15 on Jan. 6. I know Mora, and I'm betting the next time we meet on the table of doom he'll leave his blood on it trying to get even.

d. Memo to Mora: I accept the challenge. Bring it on, baby. You're only coaching the defensive backs out in Seattle now, so you'll have plenty of time to work on your game. Two hours a day, I'd say, would be enough for you to play at my level.

e. Coffeenerdness: Most of those faux Starbucks joints, like the ones you see in hotels and some airports, ought to be shuttered. The one at the Westin in Chicago made one of the all-time grim lattes, an undrinkable one, the other day. That's par for the phony Starbucks course.

f. If you haven't had the meatballs at Carmine's on Rush Street here, you need to before you die. Better than the best porterhouse in Kansas City.

g. Chicago cabbies. Death drivers. With them, it's unacceptable to go even one mph less than double the speed limit.

h. Went to the United Center Friday night for some pucks. Boy, the Blackhawks stink. (Minnesota 3, Chicago 0.) But I worry about NHL crowds. When I go to the Devils, they're lucky to have half a house at the Meadowlands, and the United Center was maybe 60 percent occupied on a Friday night in January. That's primo hockey time. I know the Blackhawks are a bad team, but it was a sad place to be Friday night.